Christian singer Natalie Grant revealed why she chose to sing the national anthem at the 2023 Republican debate on Thursday.
In an interview with Fox & Friends on Wednesday morning, Grant, 51, shared that she was “patriotic” rather than political.
“I like to keep politics to those who know how to do that best. I love my country, I love our anthem, and it’s just an honor and a privilege,” she explained.
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According to The Christian Beat, Grant clarified, “This isn’t about endorsing a candidate or a party.”
She shared:
“I simply love this country, and I love what our anthem represents. At a time when public faith in our democracy is low, I’m excited to be a part of the democratic process by doing what I do best – and that’s performing. I’ve had the distinct privilege of singing at events for both Republicans and Democrats in the past, and this is no different. It’s a privilege.”
In an interview with the Christian Post in 2020, the Grammy Award winner called out the “American Church” for their silence on issues such as racial injustice.
“I feel like we are at a moment, in specific to the American Church, where we’re so inundated with religion that we’ve gotten ourselves stuck in the weeds. We’ve forgotten that, as a people, we are called to soar with the Eagles,” she said.
Grant added, “We’re called to rise above the weeds, that we’re called to bring a hurting world up to where He is. Instead, we’ve gotten bogged down into a place that we were never called to.”
Furthermore, Grant emphasized Christians “weren’t called to politics.”
“It doesn’t mean that you still don’t stand for what’s right, stand for truth, all of those things. But when you allow your political view or your political party to become an idol in your life, that you’ve mixed up, that you’ve put Jesus into all of that, yet you look back at Scripture and He never modeled that, not one time,” she said, adding “There’s nowhere in Scripture where you can see [that].”